This application relates generally to data transmission and, more particularly, to data transmission over power lines.
Telecommunications and other network service providers require physical access to end destinations, such as homes and businesses, in order to deliver their services. Various methods of delivering services to an end destination are typically available. For example, local phone companies have extensive networks of network delivery equipment directly to homes and businesses for delivering telephony and networking services (e.g., Internet access). Additionally, cable television providers have a similarly extensive network for delivering television content, network access and other services to homes and businesses.
Therefore, traditional service providers have a readily available delivery method of offering and providing services to an end user. However, if a third-party provider wishes to establish a new service or compete with the more traditional service providers, that third-party must typically pay a fee to lease the distribution network of the traditional service provider. This lease fee is typically high and, as a result, it is frequently the case that a third-party provider cannot offer as competitive a price for its products as can the network-owning traditional service providers. Therefore, alternative methods of delivering services and data to a home have been investigated.
One such attempt involves the use of power lines to offer communications services, such as data networking, to an end user. Initially, such power line communication systems were limited to relatively low data rates, typically less than 500 kbps. These low data rates are generally useful for applications such as remote control of various switches connected to the power line system. More recently, developments have been made in the area of broadband power line communication systems, also known as power line telecommunications (PLT) systems or broadband power line (BPL) systems. These systems are capable of transmitting data at significantly higher data rages than previous systems. For example, BPL systems can transmit data at rates of 4-24 Mbps.
Typically, power line networking systems have components that operate in conjunction with the power grid infrastructure to deliver high-bandwidth network services to an end user. While existing power line systems are capable of transmitting data at the rates described above, they were not initially designed for data transmission. Instead, different power networks were designed to service specific geographic areas with only limited connectivity between the networks. Additionally, unlike many data transmission networks, power line networks were only designed with limited, if any, redundancy for the paths from one point to another. Therefore, in many instances, it would be difficult to provide power line data network service to customers on different power networks. Additionally, if a power line failed or was unavailable for any reason (e.g., for maintenance), network destinations served by that power line would lose network connectivity.